Epiphany #1 - genealogy

[2bizE]

I reluctantly took a few of my kids to seem the movie Trolls. If you have not seen this, it is truly one of the best animated shows I have seen. It was quite a funny show. During the show, all of the bright colored trolls turned grey. It was at this point I had an epiphany on genealogy. The trolls had all just changed from being bright and delightsome. My epiphany: The purpose of genealogy is not necessarily to find all of our ancestors, but to find all of our white ancestors. For more than 100 years, the church used genealogy to exclude black members. Leaders truly were racist and believed in white supremacy. They wanted to ensure the perfect race was not tainted by black lineage. This is so sad, and just makes me sick inside. I know this how the church used genealogy, as many members in certain countries had to produce genealogy to prove their non-black lineage.

[20/20hind]

The churches racism runs deep. Sure they can say all they want in an essay to minimize the issue. But its in the book of mormon, and other mormony scripture. They just cant take it out. I had never heard that before about having to show that you were doing temple work for only white people. WTH

[document]

There are a few stories of people who ran into issues when they found black ancestry in their family tree. Those stories ripped me to shreds when I was a believer. I couldn't imagine being in a culture such as that. I would thank God that I was born after the lifting of the evil doctrine and policy that was present in the LDS church, and I would thank God for Spencer Kimball and his revelation.

Side note: As an organist, I'm steeped in the liturgical Calendar. When I saw Epiphany #1, I thought something entirely differently. What went through my head was, "It's Epiphany 5, not 1": meaning it's the 5th Sunday after Epiphany in the Western Christian calendar. My brain was elsewhere, possibly because my book is open on the organ next to my computer.

[deacon blues]

I had a friend at BYU in the 70's who thought it very Likely that he had black ancestors. It was not obvious from his appearance. He said when he was baptized, before the ban was lifted, that the issue never came up. After the ban was lifted it was no longer relevant, other than as a curiosity.

[deacon blues]

Anyone speak Russian?

[Corsair]

Anyone speak Russian?

Maybe you could ask some of the spammers who show up on this site? We ban them quickly so don't delay.

[Gatorbait]

Whoever first said or penned, "Genealogy- the work for the dead, by the half-dead", or words to that effect, summed up the lack of need for genealogy to me.

Had no use for it then, and less now.

No one cares if your uncle was the first one to play the organ for the pumpernickel choir. No one cares that your grandfather was a great skier. And that he skied at Alta. No one cares that your grandmother's aunt had a dream that and angel sat on her lap and sang her a love song. No one cares.

Senseless time-wasting "work", so that someone can come up with some juicy story about how great someone's ancestor was. Big whoop.

How about now? Why don't we all just grow up and say that work for the dead is senseless. Billions of people on the earth alone have died and there is no way to know anything about most of them. Why don't we grow up and live in the present moment, because it is all we have ever had and all we will ever have?

[Meilingkie]

Yep, that´s been a big one for me.
Baptized in 1997 I found out 8 years later I had black blood in my veins through an ancestor who had a child with an Bantu in South Africa in the 1700´s.
And she returned with her child to Holland when the British took over the Cape Colony.

1/128th negro, and we found out through Genealogy and genetic research to find the reason for albinism in my family.
Turns out this was inherited from an African ancestor because this particular strain is typical for Southern African tribes.

Had I known this before 1978 I would have been banned...... Even though I don´t look like it.
Some cousins do have Afro hair in my family. I don´t.

[wtfluff]

Yep, that´s been a big one for me.
Baptized in 1997 I found out 8 years later I had black blood in my veins through an ancestor who had a child with an Bantu in South Africa in the 1700´s.
And she returned with her child to Holland when the British took over the Cape Colony.

Actually EVERY human on earth has black blood in their veins.

Darn science.

[Meilingkie]

So-called scientists, with their so-called research.........